About psychiatric medication

Running head: PSYCHOTROPIC MEDICATION AND MENTAL HEALTH
Psychotropic Medication and Mental Health
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Introduction
Psychotropic medicines refer to the drugs that helps in satisfying mental health care
needs of the population. The medicines are selected on the basis of the public health
relevance along with the evidence of the safety (Evans, Nizette & O'Brien, 2016). The
psychotropic medicines helps in treating the symptoms related to the mental disorders and it
is aimed at reducing the disability in the people. The medication with the help of the
psychotropic drugs can prove to be effective in the acute stages and it can aid in the
prevention of the relapses. The sedative medications can control the behaviour of an
individual however it can prove to be coercive for the health of an individual. It can have the
detrimental effect on the mental health of a person that can prove to be damaging in the long
run. This essay discusses about usage of the psychotropic behaviours that can manage the
symptoms for the people who are suffering from the brunt of the mental illness. The essay
elucidates on the challenges that the registered nurses have to face in the event of
administering the psychotropic medication to the patient.
Discussion
Sedative medication refers to the kind of the prescription medication which slows
down the brain activity of an individual. It induces the feeling of relaxation in an individual
and it proves to be useful in treating various kinds of conditions like the anxiety along with
the sleep disorders (Stroup et al., 2019). The sedative drugs are instrumental in bringing
about the modification of the nerve communications within the central nervous system to the
brain. The sedatives are instrumental in making neurotransmitter called the gamma-
aminobutyric acid (GABA) in working in the overtime manner. The sedatives help the
GABA in the production of the stronger effect on the brain activity.

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There exists evidence in the literature that points out to the fact that the psychotropic
medications proves to be ineffective while treating the condition of an individual. The
neuroleptics proves to be ineffective in the long run and it cannot cure the mental condition of
an individual. It have been brought out by the psychiatrist Emmanuel Stip that there does not
exist any evidence in the present time about the long term effectiveness of the psychotropic
drug. There exists the tendency in the people that the person who is suffering from the
psychotic break would eventually develop chronic illness in the longer frame of time. The
psychotropic medications are made use of so that it can make individuals more “manageable”
that can prove to be convenient for the individuals who are providing support to the person.
There exists the expectation that the sedative medications can preclude the outbursts
(Rasmussen et al., 2019). It can however be asserted that it proves to be unrealistic except
when it is provided at the very high doses. It have been found to make the life more difficult
for the care-givers because individual changes takes place on account of the administration of
the drug. It have been found that in many cases, the moderate dose of the anti-psychotic
medications interferes with the process of learning of an individual that can enable
individuals in changing the “unmanageable” behaviour. Long-term recovery rate have been
found to be higher in the patients who does not receive the psychopharmacological treatment
in the long term (Alvares et al., 2016). The prolonged usage of the anti-psychotic
medications can prove to be helpful in treating schizophrenia however there exists very little
amount of the systematic evidence pertaining to long-term benefit of the anti-psycotics.
High prevalence of the usage of the psychotropic drugs evokes the mixed feelings
among the general practitioners. The decisions pertaining to prescribing of the psychotropics
within the framework of the primary care have been found to be problematic. There exists the
intertwining of the medical along with the socio-economic problems that raises the
controversy in relation to the use of the psychotropic drugs. The general practitioners are

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requested to repeat the prescription which was originally issued by another physician which
poses the particular set of the problems. Assessment of the reason of another physician for the
prescribing can be difficult owing to limited information within the medical records (Brett et
al., 2017). In the event of the prescription being inherited from that of another physician the
receiving general practitioner thinks that the responsibility lies mainly with initiator. This
kind of tendency have been found to be more pronounced in the case of the problematic drugs
like the opioids along with benzodiazepines where the general practitioner have to take on
demanding task to bring about reduction of dosages (Dharni & Coates, 2018). The general
practitioners think that the socio-economic factors are crucial to the prescribing of the drugs.
The lack of the alternative therapies poses the risk for the practitioners that creates the way
for the prescription of the psychotropics as the coping mechanism.
Depression was previously a rare disorder that used to affect the older people who
were already chronic in the society. The antidepressant drugs provides the benefits in the
shorter span of time however they worsen progression of disease in the longer span of time
(Beach et al., 2018). It have been found that usage of the antidepressant drugs can propel
illness to the malignant along with the unresponsive course. The depression is caused in the
individuals owing to chemical imbalance of brain and it cannot be cured with the aid of
medication. It can be stated that psychotherapy is cheaper and more effective in the longer
span of time when compared to the medications. It can prove to be useful in treating the
serious level of the depression (Sanjida et al., 2019).
The benzodiazepines creates the way for the cognitive impairment which can make
the client retain the lesser amount of the information. The anxiolytics can aid in the reduction
of the short term anxiety however their usage can interfere with the prospect of recovery of
an individual. It have been found by the researchers that the anxiolytics bear the short-term
effect and it can pose the serous risk for the aspect of the tolerance of an individual. It can

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worsen the aspects of the anxiety along with the insomnia and it can lead to the panic
disorder symptoms in the event of the long term usage (Goldberg & Ernst, 2018). The
psychotropic drugs proves to be toxic for the neurons and it disrupts the normal brain
functioning in the individuals (Hart, Perlis & McCoy Jr, 2020). There exists an assumption
among the people that the side effects are not frequent and they can be outweighed by
benefits of the medication in large number of the cases.
The psychotropic drugs brings about the changes in the metabolic functioning that can
create the way for diabetes of an individual. It can lead to a decline in the cognitive
functioning and it can give rise to the brain disorder for an individual. It causes the memory
loss, seizures and the birth defects in an individual (Nichols et al., 2018). Damaging effects of
the psychotropic drugs are masked by blunting of the emotions which is known as the
intoxication anosognosia. It can render an individual incapable of recognizing or gauging
adverse mental along with the behavioural impact of the drug (Zylberberg et al., 2018). The
brain adapts to the psychoactive substance which is introduced within the body of an
individual and the withdrawal can create the way for the distress along with the dangerous
withdrawal reaction (Dixon & Gentile, 2017). It can cause the decrease in relation to the
cognitive deficits which on the other hand can make an individual aware of the mental
deficits which can pave the path for anxiety along with the despair.
The registered nurses have to face the challenges in the event of administering the
psychotropic medication as it can pose the significant risk for the health of the patient. The
power along with the control are the important aspects that raises the barriers in the path of
the nurses who are providing the medication to the patient. The power relationships within
the framework of administration can reflect the judgement regarding the capacity of an
individual of making the valid treatment decision. It have been found that the caregivers lack
the knowledge regarding the person who is being provided with the psychotropic drug that

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raise the complexities pertaining to the administration of the drug. The nurses care for the
older adults in various kinds of practice settings but they have varying degree of the
knowledge regarding these kind of the medications (Harrison et al., 2020). The people who
are above the age of 70 have more chances of being admitted to the hospitals on account of
the adverse drug reaction related to the psychotropic medications. Risk for the adverse
reactions have been found to increase with the number of the medications that have been used
for the patient. The nurses should have the ability of recognizing the side effects that can aid
in the proper administration of the drug. The nurses have to face the problem on account of
the fact that they have the belief that the service users lack the capacity of making reasonable
decisions regarding need for the medication (Kretchy et al., 2018). They are denied the right
of being involved in the treatment decisions that have the negative impact in the process of
the administration of the pharmacological treatment to the patient. It can have a detrimental
effect on the aspect of the therapeutic relations with that of the healthcare staff. Usage of the
forced medication and the failure of informing the service users regarding the treatment
options can be instrumental in undermining feelings of the control (O’Neil et al., 2018). The
service users find usage of the medication helpful that can enable a person in moving ahead
in the process (Wastell, Skirrow & Hare, 2016).
The presentations are not straightforward in relation to the clinical practice and the
problem of the combination of the symptoms exist that raises the challenge for the registered
nurses. There should exist clear identification of affective, psychotic along with the
behavioural symptoms which is the primary target of the treatment. The diagnosis should be
recorded in the systematic manner that can allow prescriber in recording target symptoms or
the syndromes (Rasmussen et al., 2019). There exists the absence of any kind of the clear-cut
diagnosis that can help the clinicians in arriving at the working diagnosis on the basis of the
assessment along with the investigations. It can pave the path for the therapeutic trial with the

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monitoring of the effect of the prescribed drugs on the target symptoms. There exists the
problem of the off-label prescribing that raises the hindrance in the path of the registered
nurses (Beach et al., 2018). It have to oversee various aspects of the treatment and it have to
provide the relevant information to the parents along with the carers. There exists the
problem of the repeat prescriptions along with the medication review. There should be the
meaningful follow-up which considers the continuation or the discontinuation of the drugs. In
the event of the meaningful follow-up narrative accounts of the improvements in the target
symptoms may not be sufficient. It is of crucial importance that the narrative accounts should
be supplemented by the standardised measures by the registered nurses.
The information provision can be said to be of great importance that can help the
users in making the informed choices regarding the treatment options. It is of great
importance that the inpatients are educated that can help in removing the complications in
relation to the administration of the psychotropic drugs (Weber et al., 2019). Participants
undertake action of bringing about the modification of the medical prescription as they feel
that it can aid in the process of minimization of the suffering (Kucirka & Ramirez, 2019). It
have however been found that this action intensifies sufferings owing to exacerbation of the
symptoms along with the episodes of the ideation. The difficulties were faced by the patients
and it favoured the feelings of the despondency along with the hopelessness of an individual.
It can create the way for the non-maintenance in relation to the usage of the medication.
The global standards for the maintenance of the quality of the medicines are
becoming stricter in the present age. It can be stated to be a cause of the concern for the
healthcare professional in various parts of the world. It have been found that one out of the
three developing countries have the functioning regulatory authorities in relation to the
medicines. The failure of the good manufacturing practices paves the way for the presence of
the sub-standard medicines in the market that can threaten the lives of the patients (Goldberg

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& Ernst, 2018). The unsafe along with the ineffective medicines can pose the serious problem
for that of population health.
Conclusion
Psychotropic medications have often been found to be ineffective in treating condition
of a person. Neuroleptics proves to be inadequate in curing mental condition of the patient
and it does not bear any kind of the positive effect in the longer frame of time. The people
suffering from the brunt of the mental disorders develop the chronic illness in the long term
that deteriorates their condition in the society. The nurse practitioners face the hindrance as
they have the belief that service users cannot make the reasonable decisions pertaining to
need of the medication. They are not provided with the opportunity of engaging themselves
in treatment decisions that have the negative effect pertaining to administration of
psychotropic drugs to the patient.

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Reading Material
Abstracts: ACMHN’s 43rd International Mental Health Nursing Conference ‘Enhancing
practice, optimizing recovery’ 25–27 October 2017, Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart